Page 136 of Broken Blood Ties

“Don’t touch her!”

“That was all Riku’s doing, Bella.” She bristles with the nickname. “He has his own agenda to this evening, butIam here to collectyou. You have a duty to the Cosa Nostra you can’t outrun.”

“No!” she yells, standing tall, chin raised. “No.”

Salvatore purses his lips, inhaling a loud audible breath through his nose. “Ah. I guess now would be the time for negotiation.”

He fumbles with his phone and Summer’s stern resolution betrays her when she looks back at me. Her expression cracks, faltering with worry and crumpling with sorrow.

The device is shoved in front of my blurry vision and shock ripples through my body as I snap back, uncaring of any physical pain. Because this is worse. So much worse.

Aoife.

Video footage, taken from inside a car and out a window, shows Aoife running around at the lake in front of my Maine cottage. She’s playing with a kite, trying to get it to fly.

My heart is suddenly sluggish, slowing to a deadly pace while chills wreck me. And Salvatore’s next words gut me altogether.

“Your daughter, for mine.”

Chapter42

Summer

My vision blurs as those words rip from my father’s mouth.

I try to move.

Try to yank myself away from the traitorous Callum.

He told me Kieran was in trouble—not wrong about that. His stoic exterior when I ran into him unnerved me, but he said he’d help me. He said he’d help Kieran. Bastard.

Kieran’s growl stretches over the room, and that’s when they prickle behind my eyes—the tears. They pool, releasing down my face as I scowl at my father.

There’s no question. I love Aoife. Never in a million years would I fail to do everything possible to ensure her health and safety.

Luna’s decision to come for me, to give herself up for me all those years ago, assaults me. She willingly gave herself up to EV to protect me because she loved me. In this moment, I understand. It hits me like a tidal wave and drowns my chest. I’d give up everything without hesitation for Aoife and Kieran. They’re my life. My future.

My stomach churns with anger, and the guilt I’ve been carrying around for all these years crumbles. I’d never want Kieran or Aoife to feel guilty I’m making the choice to go back to New York. Because even if it takes my last ounce of strength, my last breath, I’ll make sure they’re safe.

The door opens and Riku runs in, hands on his holstered weapon.

“Salvatore, how many guards do you have here? There are five armored SUVs sitting outside. You’re drawing too much attention.”

Salvatore looks up from his phone playing the video of Aoife trying to get her mermaid kite into the air.

She told me why mermaids were her favorite. She said because it’s the best of both worlds. The mystery of the ocean’s depths and the adventure of life on the surface. Of course, at almost five, her words stopped there, but I mulled it over some more. How mermaids captivate the human imagination because they live at the boundary between two worlds—the allure of the unknown and the longing for freedom. No words have ever felt more true or applicable to me. The struggle between the desire of the heart and demands of reality.

A sickening pop has me glancing to where Riku digs into Kieran’s protruding shoulder. The side is drooping, a noticeable bulge where the normal shoulder joint should be. He cries out in pain.

“Stop! Stop! Please!” I yank forward only to be met with my father’s hand around my throat.

“Who’s here, O’Donnell? You call the feds?” Riku shouts.

He rears back and lands an uppercut underneath Kieran’s jaw and the scream that erupts out of the back of my throat is feral.

“Stop! You bastard! Stop!” My father wraps his arms around me as I claw and scratch him. My fingernails rip into flesh as I struggle to get toward Kieran, my ire finding Riku. “I’ll kill you. Touch him again, and Iwillkill you!” Then glancing at my father, I add. “Both of you.”

I allow several years of pent-up rage and obsessive fear to smear across my expression. And, for a moment, my father is taken aback. The smirk on his face dies and his brows furrow.